Pep Talks
by zulka
Summary: AU TalaxJulia- Julia and her crush on Tala. Is he ever going to ask her out? A girl can hope, right? -no longer a oneshot-
1. Chapter 1

**Pep Talks**

by: zulka  
>pairing: TalaxJulia<br>genre: romance/general  
>Warnings: AU, Julia POV, character crossovers<p>

Enjoy!

* * *

><p>'You're beautiful. Even if the boy that sits next to you in class doesn't think so. You're beautiful, even though he doesn't notice you.' I sigh.<p>

I need to stop talking to myself. I really, really do. I look at my hair again. I don't know how many times I've looked at it, just to make sure it's okay. My ponytail is fine. I have black and teal ribbons over my hair band, representing the school colors. Overall my hair looks fine. Fine. Okay Julia, you look good. I nod. But deep down I'm so nervous. I have math class first, and that means that _he's_ gonna be in there. Okay I'll spill; yes I dressed up because of him. If Hiromi heard me she'd laugh at me.

A honk rips my attention from the mirror. I sigh. I look at my reflection and smile. Well there isn't much I can do now. I look good. Yes, I decide as I nod to myself. Here it goes.

When I get in the car I hear Mariam whistle. "You look hot!" I smile.

"Thanks" I tell her.

And then she smirks and smiles that smile and I blush. "Not because of that!" I say a bit too quickly.

"Uh huh." She says as she drives off in the direction of the school.

I knew it. Okay well in all honesty, I was hoping that I'd get someone's attention. I mean our football game is today anyways so I don't look too crazy being all dressed up. After all, I am part of the cheer squad, all the girls are gonna be looking their best. Tonight is our night! But of course that's not the only reason I dressed up. You see I was kind of hoping that a certain someone would look my way.

As we pull up to the school I can see him and his group of friends lounging at the front by the tree. I pretend not to look when we pass by them though. I'm glad the parking lot is on the other side but at the same time I would love to pass by his group. But it doesn't matter because I have first period with him and I sit next to him. Thinking about it makes me nervous. Get a grip Julia! It's just a boy!

I sigh again and Mariam throws me another weird look. I laugh and it sounds like some creeper. Mariam just shakes her head.

When I walk on campus I can feel people looking at me. Oh Yeah. It boosts my confidence up and I feel like I can do anything, even walk up to Tala and say 'Hi', but of course I don't. As we walk by the main entrance I try to casually look over and I see him talking with this blond chick. Blond chick? WHO the hell is THAT? I have never seen her around school. NEVER. Was she there when we passed by in the car? I can't remember! Is he dating someone who doesn't come to school here? I can feel my heart breaking.

"Mariam!" I whisper and when she looks at me I make a motion with my head for her to turn. "Who's that?" Mariam gives me a weird look and then blatantly looks at Tala, jeez so much for trying to be inconspicuous!

"No clue. But she's leaving." Without thinking I turn my head in their direction to see the blond chick get into a car. Okay, so I was right. She doesn't come here. But WHO is she?

"You know now that I see her, she's the one that always comes to the hockey games."

I realize that we are standing by the entrance of the school and staring at Tala and his group. "Mariam!" I whisper furiously, and right at that moment I see him turn. So naturally my reaction is to turn the other way and pretend to look at something else that's more important. "Mariam isn't that Frankie?"

Mariam is looking at me like I'm some freak! Umm hello? But Tala is looking this way and I don't want him to think that I was looking at him, even though I so was!

Mariam just laughs and tells me to come on as she leads me away. We walk towards the back where the food court is and find our usual table. Hiromi is there with Kenny going over some random math problem. "Hey guys!" I say as I sit next to them.

"Hey Jules," Hiromi greets as she pops her gum. "You're looking pretty today."

I laugh awkwardly.

"It's for you know who." Mariam says and I scowl. "Guys!" Kenny is right here! Not that it matters because I don't think Kenny knows Tala. But still! My crush is secret! Secret I tell you! Then I remember what Mariam said, that that girl is always at the hockey games. "What do you mean she's always at the hockey games?" I ask her. She looks confused for a moment and then sighs.

"She's always at the hockey games." I know that, she just told me.

"But who is she?" Hiromi is looking at me weirdly now. "Who?"

Before I can answer I hear Kenny sigh. "I'm going. See you in Math, Shiro." Hiromi nods. I always found Hiromi's nickname weird, until she explained to me that her name could be truncated into two syllables to form a nickname, that's how most Japanese nicknames are formed. One of those could be 'Romi' and the other could be 'Hiro', with a 'chan' attached, but since Tyson's older brother's name is Hiro, they started calling her 'Shiro' and it stuck. Only her dad called her 'Romi-chan' but he's been long gone.

"This blond chick." Mariam answers. In moments like these I wish Tala and I could have friends in common. But we don't. It would make everything easier! Not that it would make me talk to him or anything. But you know, I could like maybe ask stuff without sounding too crazy or obsessed.

"Jules saw her hanging out with Tala at the front this morning and went berserk."

"Hey!" I object because I so did not. I kept my cool. Well kind of.

"What did she look like?" I look at Hiromi, could she know something?

"Hiromi!" I say as I grab her hands, "tell me he's not dating her! Tell me I have a chance!"

She laughs. "Calm down. What does she look like?"

"Well she's blond," and I'm afraid that's the ONLY thing I can say. I couldn't really see her face. I was too focused on Tala talking to her. Hiromi just looks at me with a 'that doesn't help' expression.

"She's shorter than him and has blue eyes. Had on a red blazer and a grey skirt I think." I look at Mariam, how the hell was she able to see all that?

"See unlike you, I wasn't going crazy over T talking to a girl." I gape. 'T' is our nickname for Tala. I know very creative. But I can't go all over school talking about how much I like Tala and saying his name. Otherwise everyone would know and then what? Then he would know and it would be even more awkward! I mean I try to hide that I like him by ignoring him through math class. I pretend I don't see him.

"Red blazer? Hmm. I know her." Both Mariam and I swivel our heads to look at Hiromi.

"She's his cousin." I love you Hiromi! But wait…how does she know that? "How do you know?"

"Tyson, Kai and I were hanging out the other day and she gave us a ride. She's Kai's cousin too. Her name's Relena. She comes to the hockey games to see Tala play."

Ooh. I feel better and right then the bell rings. I'm excited and nervous to see Tala. "Well gotta go!" I say as I run to class. I stop halfway. What the heck am I doing? Running to class. Ugh. As I pass another hallway I see Tyson and Kai heading to Biology. I wave. But wait. Does that mean that Kai and Tala are related? They look nothing alike. I'll ask Hiromi another time. My class is nearby and I slow down. I don't want to be the first one there. I guess it's not bad but lately I've been getting low marks in my homework and tests. It actually makes me sad. Mostly because if I don't do well I might get kicked out of the cheer squad. Damn you trigonometry!

Sighing I enter the classroom and sit down. I put my head down. But in all honesty the only thing I want to do is stare at the door to see Tala come in. I'm not sure when I started liking Tala. He transferred here last year. I hear his voice and raise my head lightly. Ugh. It's that girl again! " See you at lunch." SAY WHAT? I look to my notebook and begin writing the date. I guess I put too much pressure on it that my lead breaks. Dammit! I hate that Queen girl! I hate her! She's about the only girl I see Tala interacting with. That damn punk! Literally. She has black hair, and blue eyes, and wears tight clothes with a bunch of patches from different bands like 'the casualties', 'the ramones, and what sex pistols? I don't even know. Not to mention her belts and her damn leopard prints!

And she's seeing him at lunch! Why? I wanna scream. Here I am, all cheer and preppy, with ribbons on my hair. By the time he sits down, I'm looking through my backpack furiously for another pencil or even lead refills. Even a pen would do. I can't find any. Curse my luck. Was this my only writing utensil? No way!

I look around. Rei is in the corner of the room and too far. I look at Tala, this is the perfect opportunity! He has his earphones on and I can hear some Techno music. Wow, I never would have thought. Okay Julia, ask him for a pencil! I bit my lip and poke Frankie who is in front of me. "Hey, you have a pencil I can borrow?" Yes, I am a chicken. I couldn't even ask Tala for a pencil.

Frankie turns to look at me and says that she doesn't. She let her friend borrow her last spare this morning. I sigh. Great. The bell rings to signal the beginning of class. I turn to the person behind me to ask only to see they are sleeping.

"You need a pencil?" I swear my heart stops. Tala is actually TALKING to ME!

"Huh?" Brilliant response. Dammit now he's going think I'm an idiot.

"Do you need a pencil?" His tone hasn't changed and—and have I said how beautiful his eyes are? They're this aqua color very light and pretty. I nod, "Yeah." Then I turn to stare at his notebook and then look around the classroom looking at everything to stop myself from staring at him.

"Here." He hands me a black mechanical pencil. Very simple but god I am going to treasure this pencil forever! If I wasn't in public I'd hold it to my chest and sigh. But I don't. I just take it and say thanks. He shrugs. He then begins to put his earphones away. I look at my notebook and try my hardest not to smile. But I want to smile so badly. You know, I can feel this silly grin forming. Stop it Julia. STOP IT! We don't need for him to think you're also a creeper. I wish my hair was down so I could hide behind it. I wonder if he noticed the way I was dressed today, probably not, not when he's meeting Queen for lunch.

I look up to copy all the notes the teacher has on the board. This feels like a long day.

* * *

><p>Walking from my class to the food court I try to look for Tala. He usually hangs in front of the food court by the trees with his friends. When I reach the court I see Mariam in line and Queen right behind her with Tala. AH! Why? WHY? Does he like her? Does he?<p>

Mariam turns back and notices me. She motions me over and hesitantly I go. Well I'm not hesitant at all. I actually want to know what they are talking about, plus I want him to notice how I look! When I reach her I hear Queen say something like 'No cutting.' But I ignore her and place myself in front of Mariam who turns around and says "He let you cut." That shuts her up and Tala just smirks.

Queen just frowns, HA!

I still have Tala's pencil. He didn't ask for it after class, he actually just left before I could even give it back to him. Sooo, I guess that meant that I could keep it.

As much as I want to hear what they are talking about, I notice that Queen is the one that is doing much of the talking with Tala saying a few things here and there. I am trying really hard to listen that I'm not paying attention to what Mariam is saying.

"…so any ways there is this gig Friday night with a bunch of local bands, if you wanna come."

"Where?"

"At The Vault."

"Julia, did you hear me?" Damn you Mariam I couldn't hear his answer. "What?" I snap.

"Nevermind." By then I'm next in line, I order a chimichanga and wait for Mariam. She orders a pizza. Typical. As we head to our table Mariam leans in and says "T was looking at you while you were waiting for me."

I look at her and smile. "Really? Really?" She nods. I feel so giddy. Tala was looking at me! I'm all smiles when I sit down next to my twin, Raul. "What are you so happy about?" He asks as he eats his sandwich.

"Oh nothing." I say. Tala was looking at me! My day just got better. I cut my chimichanga in half so that it can cool down a bit.

"You got your food already?" I look up to see Hiromi coming with Kai.

"Yeah. Were you hoping to get something?"

"Not for me, for Tyson. He's stuck taking a test right now, the dumbass. Well I better get in line." I nod. The line gets horrible. Kai takes a seat next to Mariam and opens a book. BIOLOGY, it reads.

"Test coming up?" I ask. He nods. HA. SUCKER. I'm actually too happy at the moment with the knowledge that Tala was checking me out. That's right. Tala Ivanov, was checking ME, Julia Fernandez, out. Take THAT Queen.

But then I remember the gig thing and I instantly deflate. Was he gonna go? I look to the line again and see that Hiromi managed to cut with Max. I look to where Tala and his friends usually hang out and he's there, eating what I think is popcorn chicken. Queen is nowhere to be found, much to my relief. I don't know what I would do if I found out he was interested in her. She's a junior, like me and well…Okay. I would know what to do. I would probably cry my eyes out.

Okay fine, maybe I'm being too dramatic but I really REALLY like this guy. His red hair that's always spiked to the sides unlike all the other boys that spike it up at the top. His black Dickies jacket that he always wears on top of his grey sweater, and his brown pants, or the grey ones, I think that's when he looks best.

"What's wrong with you?" I see Kai looking at me and giving me strange look.

"Nothing. Just spaced out." Don't blush. DON'T BLUSH!

"She's nervous about the big game today." Mariam tells him.

"There's a game today?" Raul asks. I look at him like he's stupid.

"Yeah. The football game!" This is a big one and I'm not really nervous about it. I was just daydreaming about Tala but it's not like I'm going to say that.

Hiromi comes back just as the bell is ringing to signal that lunch is over. She groans. "Just my luck." People all around us are picking up their stuff and finishing their lunch. "Did you eat anything?" She looks at me and says no. She wasn't hungry. I'm slightly worried about that. She and Kai then leave; they're going to find Tyson to give him his food and then head to class. Kai and Hiromi are in the honors program of the school and take all these honor courses along with Kenny, and Emily. There's more people but I don't know them. Once more I try to look in Tala's direction but I only see Bryan and Spencer. I guess he left already.

* * *

><p>Okay Julia, you're pretty. Mariam tells me this as we head to the game. You're pretty and smart and if damn Ivanov can't see that then it's his problem, she proclaims. I told Mariam about Queen and how I'm afraid that he likes her.<p>

"What if he doesn't like me because I'm not punk?" I can't imagine myself being punk in all honesty. I don't think I'd be able to pull it off.

"What if she's better than me? They probably have a lot more in common to talk about. I mean, look at me I'm a CHEERLEADER all preppy and-and stuff." I can hear Mariam sigh.

"Julia, in all the years I've known you, I haven't seen you lose your composure over a guy. I mean where is the confident girl who used to ask guys out?" I frown. Yes, I don't know actually.

"It's just…Tala is different." I tell her, he's not like Michael. He's not a jock or much of a sports person, sure he plays hockey and stuff but I think that's it. He doesn't really dress preppy either. If it's not his Dickies jacket then it's a black hoodie and dickies work pants. He has this tough kind of aura. Not dangerous but I don't know—like bad boy material?

"Whatever, just go out there and cheer like your life depends on it. Then we'll go with the crowd to In-n-Out." Mariam winks and I smile. Fine, I reply.

I'm not surprised that we win. I mean, our team is really really good. Plus I know that we are going to nationals, our cheer squad that is. I am happy as I can be. Mariam is the first to get to In-n-Out with Max and Hiromi. The rest of the gang is going to join us later. I get there late because I had to stay behind and all. As I approach the tables outside I see shocking red hair. I stop dead in my tracks. I didn't think Tala would be here! I mean, I know he didn't go to the game, did he? I keep walking only for Steve to stop me and wave me over. I hesitate but what the hell; let Tala see that there are other boys interested in me.

Out of the corner of my eye I see him with that blonde chick, his cousin I remind myself. "Hey guys!" I say as I near their little table. In-n-Out has such small tables, it kind of bothers me.

"We heard you guys are going to nationals, congrats!" I beam. Oh Yeah!

"Yup. We're pretty excited. Great game today you guys."

Rick laughs, "It was easy, I swear every time we play against this team they get worse and worse." I kind of hate to admit it but I think he's right. So I nod. "Yeah I noticed. Might be the coaches." I answer.

"Who knows what it is but it's kind of embarrassing." It's at that moment that I realize that Bryan, YES Bryan—Tala's friend, is in the football team. I feel like an idiot. Why didn't I notice it before? Is it because he's always so quiet?

"That's right!" Steve answers.

"Well I'm going to get some food." I tell them.

"Right on!" Rick says. "These are the best hamburgers in planet."

I'm about to leave when Michael calls me out.

"JULIA! What are you doing this Friday?" I turn to look at Michael, I know he's gonna ask me to go out. I'm about to laugh and call him out on it when I remember Queen and her gig. "Oh Nothing important." I tell him. He's about to ask me out when Mariam comes out of nowhere and says "Oh. Sorry Mike, but she's got a date with me. She just didn't know about it."

"No fair Mariam." Michael whines and the guys laugh.

"Sorry maybe next time." I tell him as I wink. I know Michael is not interested. It's just a game we play. At this moment I wish I could turn around and look at Tala, just to see his reaction. But I can't cause that would be blatantly obvious.

Hiromi is eating a grilled cheese and some fries when I get there. She looks at me and smiles. "So I heard nationals?" I smile. Thinking about Nationals makes me happy. Of course thinking about and daydreaming about Tala makes me happy too. "Yes. We are on for nationals. It'll be in a couple of months. We gotta prep. It'll be in Texas this year!" I am so excited! Last year we didn't make it to nationals.

I sit down next to her and grab a fry. I know she won't mind. "Did you guys order me something?" I ask. I'm actually quite hungry and I love In-n-Out. Except I don't eat it all the time, otherwise it would lose its novelty and that would be a shame.

"Yeah." Max says as he hands me a hamburger. "I got you a double-double with grilled onions." I smile. "Thanks Max!" I'm about to take a bite out of my hamburger when I hear Tyson.

"We won!" I hear Tyson shout as he runs to our table. Rei and Kenny come after. I look around searching for Kai and notice that he's sitting with Tala and that chick. I don't remember her name. I'm slightly surprised to see them together considering that I hardly see Tala and Kai interact at school. Kai mostly hangs out with Rei, Tyson and Max. "Where's Kai?" I ask even though I saw him already. Maybe someone can explain this cousin business.

"With his cousin." Tyson answers as he steals fries from Max who objects. "Get your own."

"The line is too long!"

I ignore them and continue with my questions, "What cousin? The one with Tala?"

Tyson nods. "Yeah. Technically not really cousins but Kai's aunt married her brother. So they're family. Tala is related to her by blood." I nod. That makes sense. I feel like calling over to Kai only so I could like get into the conversation for a bit but Kai and I are not the best of friends so it would be weird.

"Her name's Relena." Hiromi says. She's not even looking at me. I stare at her for a bit and remember she didn't eat at lunch. I was worried but I guess she's okay. I'll have to ask her if she ate anything, because between lunch and now it's been a long time. Hiromi used to be bulimic, and it took a lot of therapy to help her through it. I'm glad she's okay now.

"Well anyways I'm going to get in line. Anyone want anything else?" I look at Tyson and shake my head. What I want is Tala. I look over to his table again and notice Kai motioning over to our table. The girl—Relena, turns to look at us and so does Tala. Yikes! I freeze a little. I'm not sure about what I should do. Tala seems to be looking at me but I'm not sure. I do the best I can and smile hesitantly at them and turn back around and stare at my hamburger. The conversation at hand is about a new movie that just came out. I don't pay attention as I keep thinking about Tala and him looking at me. Well I think he was looking at me. I sigh, causing Hiromi to look at me and she laughs.

Why is this so difficult? Why can't Tala Ivanov just notice me and ask me out?

-x-

Author's Note: Well I had this idea the other day and decided to try it out. I haven't seen much AU TalaJulia fics. In any case though its marked as 'Complete' I might add another chapter. Well I hope you guys enjoyed. If you have any ideas let me know.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

><p>I get my math test and wince. I got a C-. I quickly shove it inside my binder. I don't want anyone to see this. Looking discreetly over at Tala, I read his test has an A. I roll my eyes. Freakin' A! Why is life unfair? I sigh and I guess I'm too loud that I see him turn his head to look at me out of the corner of my eye. Vaguely I hear the teacher saying something about extra credit. I'm going to need that. I mark the pages and the problems in my agenda.<p>

It has been two days since the game. Kai came to our table after all and brought his cousin with him. Tala stayed at their table. Their cousin, Relena, has a sweet soft voice, very cordial and polite. She seemed very nice though, not like stuck up or anything.

She left after meeting us, said something about it being nice to see Kai's friends. She left with Tala afterwards. I wished Tala had come over.

The bell for second periods rings and I see Tala stand up, pick his notebook up and leave ASAP. He always does that. Sometimes I wish he would stay a bit longer.

My hair is down today and I'm feeling rather lousy given my math score. I've been doing rather badly in our quizzes and tests. I frown, I try to turn in my homework but I leave problems halfway done. They are completely lost on me! Which makes me think, how on earth am I going to do the extra credit and actually GET the credit if I suck at math? It's enough to make me cry. I need to pass this class. Not just for cheer but also for my future!

Not to mention that tomorrow is Friday and that's when this supposed gig is going to happen. When Tala is going to go with Queen. This just makes my mood get worse. In all honesty, what does she have that I don't? Like am I not good enough? It makes me angry too. Pssh.

Well okay. I need to calm down. I don't even know if Tala is going. But it's more than likely. As I head to English I see him next to the water fountain talking to Kai. WOW. I think this is the first time I've seen the two of them interact during school. I can't help but stare for a bit. When I see Kai shift I run into my classroom.

I have told myself that from now on, I will forget about Tala Ivanov. I will not pay attention to him, I will not look for him between classes, I will not look for him at break or at lunch, I will not dress pretty with the intention of making him notice me, and I will stop talking about him!

I told this to Mariam this morning and she started laughing hysterically. But I am really serious. I mean, I know I've said this before and told Mariam many times before but this time I am determined to do it. Besides there are more fish in the sea right? RIGHT.

I blow my bangs out of my face and wonder, when did I start liking Tala Ivanov so much? I mean when I first saw him, I was a sophomore. I didn't even know his name. I just randomly saw him one day during break when I was going to the snack bar. I think it was his hair. I hadn't seen hair that bright and in such style and he was pretty cute too.

I told Mariam about him and she said that she hadn't seen him around. Perhaps he was new, a transfer student or something.

After I saw him that first time, I kept on the lookout for him. It would just make my day when I would see him. You know, when you see that cute guy and it's like…well it just makes you feel all nice and stuff. Eye candy.

I'll admit I was stalker-ish and would try to see what classes he had and where he would hang out at lunch and break. But I mean who doesn't? I found out he was a year above me because Hiromi told me. She had had him in one of her classes, but he was moved later on because he didn't need that class. That was when I found out his name. His name was Tala Ivanov and he was a transfer. That was when we nicknamed him 'T'. Not so creative but sometimes I lack imagination.

I look at the clock. I still have forty minutes in this class. I don't care what the teacher says, I don't like Shakespeare. Everything he says goes over my head!

* * *

><p>Okay, my not talking about Tala doesn't last long. By lunch, I am talking about him already to Mariam, who merely gives me an 'I knew it' look. I roll my eyes and scowl. Talking about Tala just makes me happy. I like being happy.<p>

As we head to our spot, I notice Hiromi arguing with Tyson or maybe it's Tyson arguing with Hiromi? I'm not too sure. I look at Mariam who simply shrugs. Tyson and Hiromi arguing is like…regular occurrence. I swear if they don't argue at least once a day, the world is going to end or something. They argue about silly things too. Sometimes it's funny watching them, other times it is completely annoying. Kai ignores them most of the time. He steps in sometimes, though it is rare, when it goes too far. What I mean with 'too far', I mean that Tyson goes too far.

Hiromi will usually never say anything _too_ hurtful to Tyson. Tyson on the other hand lacks sense and has on more than one occasion said things that everyone wanted to punch him for.

Sometimes they remind me of Raul and me, we don't argue as much as they and we definitely don't go too far with our remarks.

"What happened now?" I ask my twin as I sit next to him. Kai has his eyes closed and his head is resting on his palm. Max looks uneasy and Rei is just wincing.

Raul looks at me and shakes his head. "Tyson forgot his homework."

I'm not surprised. I roll my eyes because this is one of those annoying times. Hiromi needs to chill sometimes, honestly.

I look at Hiromi who is just shaking her head at Tyson before sitting next to Max. Suddenly a brilliant idea strikes me. "Hiromi, meet me after school yeah? At the library?"

She looks at me confused for a second before saying 'Okay'. The talk at our table resumes now that the two hot heads aren't arguing. This reminds me…well, I'll ask Hiromi after school.

I look at my chicken teriyaki, I can't wait! I want it to be after school already. This plan I'm formulating is what keeps me going through our last two periods.

* * *

><p>Running out of my last class, I make for the library. I've been thinking about this really hard and it makes some sense. I just hope Hiromi agrees with me. As I wait in front of the library I casually look around but I only spot Bryan and Spencer. Damn.<p>

I turn around so that they won't see me looking at them. That would be bad, since well I think that they have noticed me staring all the time. I hope not. Now that would be embarrassing.

I look at my phone, where is Hiromi? This is the only thing I had to look forward to after school, well besides cheer practice but that's different. Okay, I see Kai and Takao and Rei. I know Kai, Rei and Hiromi share their last class, so why isn't she with them?

"Hey!" I call out, once they turn I ask. "Where is Hiromi?"

"She stayed behind, had to talk to the teacher about an essay."

I nod. "Okay. Thanks Rei."

"No Problem." I smile. Or try to. He didn't say that she wasn't going to meet me but still. Time is running out, I'm going to be late to cheer, which is bad because I'm already failing my math class. Math just makes me so sad; I mean I have been trying. Maybe I should go and speak with the teacher, it might help. Yes, I'll do that. I'll do it tomorrow.

"Julia! Sorry I'm so late. But I had to talk about revising my essay with the teacher."

I feel relieved as I stare at Hiromi. "It's okay. Let's go inside."

She nods and follows me; I look around to see what the best spot for this is. A table at the back is good. I just need to make sure no one else is there, I can't have people overhear.

"So what is it?" I can hear Hiromi's curiosity. Once me sit down I motion her over closer.

"Okay, so I was thinking, you know how you are good friends with Kai?" She nods. Good.

I continue, "Well I was thinking that maybe you could find out stuff about 'T' for me? Like if he's interested in the girl who's next in line for the monarchy." Yes, that is how we refer to 'Queen'.

Hiromi looks uneasy, "I don't know. Kai hardly speaks about 'T' and they hardly hang out, unless Relena is there."

"Well maybe you could become friends with her?" She frowns at me.

Yes, I know I'm desperate but I mean, its Tala. "I just have to know so that I can either move on or keep hoping."

Hiromi sighs, "You're so dramatic. You should just ask him out."

I look at her like she has lost her mind, me ask Tala out? That's preposterous.

"Besides, if I randomly start asking Kai about 'T' he's going to think I like him." She does have a good point, but it doesn't matter because I know she doesn't. Right? I'll have to make sure.

"You don't right?"

"Of course not." That's good to know.

"So then what's the problem, I know you don't like 'T', so who cares if Kai thinks you do? Unless you like Kai?" Oh my goodness, could it be? Does Hiromi have a crush on Kai? Is this why she is so reluctant?

"No! I don't like Kai like that." Somehow I don't believe her. But I mean, I've never seen her gush about Kai, nor blush or anything, or be nervous. Maybe she doesn't. But she could be hiding it very well.

"So you'll do it?" Come on, please say yes.

"Okay, fine I'll do it. I'll see what I can find from Kai or Relena if I see her. I feel kind of bad becoming her friend just to find stuff out on 'T'." I can't stop smiling and shaking my head.

"I am a friend in need! Besides she seems nice. Thank you so much!" I can just see the possibilities. Unless of course he does like Queen, then there are no possibilities. Well I could try and get in between but I don't know if I could do that. I mean I can't even speak to him.

"Wait, Hiromi, I've been meaning to ask, have you been eating? I haven't really seen you eat stuff."

The look she gives me makes me very suspicious. "Yeah. Not at lunch, I bring my food and eat during 4th period. You can ask Kai or Kenny. Our teacher is pretty cool. He doesn't mind."

I'll definitely have to ask Kai or Kenny. "Okay. But are you okay? Should I beat up Tyson for upsetting you?"

She laughs and nods, and I laugh. I can't help but worry about her though. We pick up our bags, I still have cheer practice and she has an essay to re-write. As we head out and go by the school entrance she stops abruptly and I turn to look at her and follow her gaze.

"Anyways, I'll walk you to practice!" She's too cheerful and I can see this small smile, the same smile I get when I see Tala. I nod and as we turn to walk to the back of the school, I turn back and I can't believe this. Of all the people, I never would have thought. Hiromi has a crush on Hiro Kinomiya! Tyson's older brother! No freakin' way.

* * *

><p><span>Notes<span>: thanks for reading. I know I'm late but man, this is turning out harder than expected. But things are starting to be set up, now if only I could find everything else. Well wish me luck, I won't abandon this.  
>thanks to all of you who reviewed, and wanted this to continue.<p> 


End file.
